Who Is Emmanuelle Riva? Meet The Best Actress Nominee From 'Amour'

"Amour," the latest addition to Michael Haneke's ("White Ribbon") uber-depressing oeuvre, hit the scene innocently enough. But the French flick, which plumbs the depths of marriage, parenting and aging, has become the Foreign-film-that-could, snatching up Oscar nods for Best Director, Best Foreign Film and Best Actress for 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva, making her the oldest actress ever to be nominated in that category.

But who is this screen sage? Moviefone has the full rundown on the star of "Amour."

Who Is Emmanuelle Riva?
She's an 85-year-old French actress who was a seamstress before she began her career in Paris theaters. Her best known role was as the female lead in 1959's "Hiroshima mon amour." The next year, she was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance. She has appeared in many films over her 50-year career, including "Therese Desqueyroux," which earned her the Volpi Cup for best actress at the Venice Film Festival. In addition to being an actress, Riva is a published poet and the photographs she took during the filming of "Hiroshima" were included in the Nikon Salon exhibition.

Who Does She Play in "Amour"?
The actress stars as Anne, one half of an elderly, musically-inclined couple. But after she suffers a stroke, her husband, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and daughter (Isabelle Huppert), are left to care for her.

Where Else Can I See Her?
Riva will appear next in the French comedy, "A Greek Type of Problem" as "Granny."